Author's Note

NANOWRIMO 2012
AUTHOR’S NOTE

Day 1:
Ok. I'm going to do this. I don't know if I will ever make it, but that's not the point of this, is it? The point is to make a concentrated effort for one month and see where I end up.
To write this whole thing in 1 month, that is 50,000 words novel in one month will take some gumption. Even if I defer editing in December, I will have to do some heavy duty typing. I figure 2000 words per day would be just fine. At 1000 words per hour, that means 2 hours of concentrated work per day. That will be tough. However, with the right keyboard and device, I managed to trim it down to 1000 words per half hour. Of course, that's not counting spell checking or anything like that. That's okay, though. I'm fine with doing 1 hour per day, with catch up on weekend.

The original founder of Nanowrimo mentioned that they did it to get dates with chicks, who presumably are more willing to date novelist. Hmmm. I wonder if that's still true? I should join in to a few write in sessions. Meet new novelist chicks!

Ok, let's calculate this real quick. 50 wpm typing speed means 500 words per 10 minutes or 3000 words per hour. I should be able to type 2000 words per hour, right? That means 30 minutes in the morning, 30 minutes at night. And we'll see about catching up on the weekend. I think it'll be fine. Something about 4 hours on the weekend should be fine.
I do wish I have Dragon Naturally Speaking. Version 12 is rumored to be excellent with accent. I really should try it out. In the meantime, though, I can type almost as fast as I speak, and no mistyping either! So, I am definitely happy about it. Furthermore, the set up I have right now with Bluetooth wireless keyboard and Kindle Fire HD is really sweet. I can actually type while relaxing on the bed.

I am still experimenting on the set up. I did run into some problems, which I solved by turning off Kindle Fire HD and the keyboard. It goes get annoying that I have to do that. How about making the software that I don't have to turn off the hardware just to reset the device, hmmm?

I also put out a blog. Right now it's semi private blog, which means that anybody can read it, but there's no way a search engine can search it. Well, maybe not. I did put out a link in my Nanowrimo profile. Yes, this time I properly registered so it's for the world to see! How about making things so that the risk of failure is greater, eh? I guess this is the way for me to guarantee success. The more people know that I'm participating, the more likely it is that I will complete the story.

I do have an outline and character sheet ready. I think that's enough. I have been running the story over and over in my head. I do worry about missing some clever banter since typing and speaking at the same time is really difficult for me. And yet, my typing speed is about the same as my speaking speed. Oh, I am sooo happy!

Of course, I will have to put my own story, character, and setting. It will not be a fan fiction. I'm thinking that "Twinkle, twinkle little star" story would be good. I don't know if it will come across written pages well, since it is designed for script/movies starring Drew Barrymore and Adam Sandler. But it will have to do for now.

This story is basically a re-interpretation of Doom, and other first person perspective video game that is currently being in vogue. Or make that the current vogue is to do first person perspective shooter, but showing the avatar. I really wonder why the game designer would put 3rd character viewpoint without the option of going into first perspective viewpoint. Do they think that we like to see the avatar's bum at all times?
The word count on this setting is about 500 words per page, so in order to get 2000 words, I will need about 4 pages of typewritten text. Is that right? 80 characters per line means 10 words per line. 50 lines means 500 words. Yup. About right. Of course, I'm typing this is a word processor, so without any page guideline, it doesn't matter much. It's not like it's on the old PalmPilot where 4K is the limit of Notepad, so that I know the number of pages no problem.

I guess some people may say that maybe I shouldn't count this text, but I'm counting it anyway! You know, there is a note in there that says although you can copy and paste text from somewhere else, in the end, you are cheating yourself because THE TEXT IS THE PRIZE. I agree. It is not that you get certificate at the end. It is the experience of putting in the time , day after day, trying to put in 1 hour per day, 7 days per week for a whole month. It is the discipline that is gained after long suffering hours at the desk, typing the text. The effort is the reward. You become a better person capable of managing time and tight schedule.

So, how about some outline? First, there's Author's Note, which is this one. Then there's Prologue, which explains the setting a bit. Then, Chapter 1, which is the first time we see our heroine. Then there is the last chapter, which mimics Chapter 1, but with he difference that our characters have grown, and that life affirming choices were made. This enables us, and hopefully the reader, to look at 1 thing and see 10 different things.
I'm not into symbolism much. The way I write things is by putting it items that hopefully conveys the situation, instead of telling the reader how things are. I have been reading the text of some fiction, and somehow, my text is devoid of all of these explanatory texts. Oh, well. We'll see how it goes.
Word Count: 1045.
Time: 27 minutes.